


Sweet Dreams, Anxiety

by KieraElieson



Series: A Tiny Virgil [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Dreams, G/T, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, In which I am mean to Virgil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-08 04:01:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21469732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KieraElieson/pseuds/KieraElieson
Summary: Anxiety is thrust into three nightmares about the other sides, in which he is much, much smaller than he would normally be.
Series: A Tiny Virgil [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1549858
Comments: 35
Kudos: 108





	Sweet Dreams, Anxiety

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, I had thought that this would have a happy ending, but then it didn’t happen. Not at all.
> 
> Also, this is set before Accepting Anxiety.

“Sweet dreams, Anxiety,” a familiar voice purred. 

Even as his heart rate spiked, Virgil found himself laying still, and his eyes slipped closed. 

  
  


  * •^*^••

  
  


Virgil woke with a gasp. He was on the kitchen counter, which was not perhaps odd, but the odd thing was that he was in the light side of the mind. And everything was  _ huge.  _

He had seen the light side, if not actually entered it, and he was sure he would have noticed if it was so big. Unless it changed as you stepped in? But why would he have done that? And how did he get to the kitchen counter? 

Virgil stood and walked to the edge of the counter, backing up immediately when he saw what a drop it would be to fall. He had to get down. Had to get back. Who knows what might happen to Thomas if he stayed. 

Virgil looked around for anything he could use to get down. He was contemplating unplugging the coffee maker, climbing down the cord as far as it would reach, and jumped the rest of the way, when he heard booming footsteps, and a loud humming. 

Virgil darted behind the coffee maker just as the side came into view. It was Patton. 

Against everything Virgil had hoped, Patton reached for the coffee pot almost immediately, and when he did he locked eyes with Virgil. They were caught in the stare for several moments before Patton spoke. 

“Anxiety!” He spoke with the loudness of someone who has just realized something, rather than any animosity, but Virgil still flinched back. 

“What are you doing here?” Patton asked. 

Virgil found himself shaking, and a moment later, the fear hit his brain. “I-I’m sorry! I just want to get back!”

Patton reached out, and despite Virgil scrambling away, easily caught him up in his hand. Virgil squirmed and thrashed. 

“L-let me—let me go!”

“Oh! Sorry.” Patton set him back down on the counter. “But, what are you doing here? And why are you so small?”

“I don’t know.” Virgil ducked as he saw Patton’s hand moving again. “I just want to get back home.”

“How do you get back?” Patton asked. 

Virgil froze. He didn’t actually know. The only times he had seen into the light side before was when Deceit had opened a door. “M-maybe if Deceit—“

Patton started shaking his head determinedly. “I can’t have two of you in here. One is dangerous enough. Who knows what the effect on Thomas might be.”

Virgil began to tremble again. If Patton thought that he was trying to do anything to Thomas, it would take all the kindness he had been banking on and reverse it. 

“I-I don’t-I would never hurt Thomas!”

Patton frowned, and if a frown could be sympathetic, this one was. “Kiddo, you do…”

It hurt. It hurt more than Virgil had thought it could. He didn’t hurt Thomas! He protected him! He-he would never—

Virgil’s legs decided to give out on him, and he crumpled to the counter, any shred of dignity abandoned. 

“Please… help me get home.”

Patton picked him up in cupped hands and held him to his chest, murmuring what was probably supposed to be comforting words. But Virgil couldn’t hear them. 

You do. 

He didn’t! He didn’t hurt Thomas! He loved Thomas! He’d never meant to hurt Thomas!

You do. 

Something inside him broke painfully, and Virgil sobbed. 

  * •^*^••

Virgil woke, the painful dream flying out of his mind and leaving him only with a hollowed out feeling. He rolled on his side. Perhaps, if he managed to fall asleep again, he’d lose the feeling of the dream like he had the memory. 

Suddenly the light clicked on. 

Virgil stiffened instinctually, and suddenly realized that what he was laying on was not his bed, but a dark blue strip of fabric. As soon as his brain had registered what it was, he scrambled off, only to be caught underneath a glass cup. 

Virgil craned his head up, watching as Logan put on his glasses and turned to stare at him.

Logan frowned in confusion. “Anxiety?”

Virgil didn’t answer or move. Maybe, just maybe, Logan would assume it was a dream, and Virgil could figure out what was going on. Logan stood up, and… Virgil couldn’t help the tremble that started when he saw just how **_big_** Logan was. 

Logan left for a short few minutes, and when he returned he was dressed, and holding a clipboard. He slid the clipboard under the cup, forcing Virgil to scramble up onto it. He moved Virgil to his desk, and then started pulling out paper and pens, organizing all his supplies perfectly. 

Virgil shrank back against the side of the cup. He had seen the very start of this kind of behavior once. Logan was preparing for study. For studying Virgil. 

Logan started writing, it was fast, and his handwriting was nearly illegible. He wrote to the end of the page, then crumpled the paper and threw it in the trash. He pulled out his phone and set it on the desk. 

“This will be an observation log, to be transcribed at a later date.”

Logan looked at Virgil as he continued. “I have discovered a small, humanoid creature. It seems to have the appearance of Anxiety. It was found on my bedside table, specifically, laying on my tie, at approximately 6:02 this morning. It seems to be capable of thought, though whether it can understand English I have yet to determine. It has not attempted speech or communication of any kind.”

Virgil’s head spun. He still wasn’t certain what was going on. But one thing he knew now was that he had just been handed a choice. Reveal himself as actually being Anxiety, or pretend to be a… tiny thing. If he chose that, should he reveal that he could speak and understand Logan? And if Logan learned that he was Anxiety, would he help him, or would he be angry that he was in the light side? 

Logan was just staring. Observing. 

If he revealed himself to be sentient, it was likely that Logan wouldn’t hurt him. At least not on purpose. But he couldn’t let Logan know that he was Anxiety. There was no way that Logan would be ok with him being in the light side. 

Logan reached out, and Virgil flinched away. The cup was removed. 

“It seems to be afraid of my greater size,” Logan observed, still in a monotone, though the glitter in his eyes revealed how excited he was about his ‘discovery’. 

“It hasn’t attempted to move since the cup has been removed. Likely this is a freeze reaction, common among prey animals.”

Virgil winced. It wasn’t an insult to him, but it felt like one. 

Logan blinked, and the glitter in his eyes became a bright sparkle. “Can you understand me?”

Virgil nodded. 

“What are you?” 

Virgil took a step back. That was one of the few questions he couldn’t answer. 

“Can’t you speak?”

Virgil decided that Logan would more readily believe that he couldn’t speak than that he didn’t know what he was. He shook his head. 

“It can understand me, but it can’t speak.” Logan said, his voice retreating back into that monotone he used when recording. 

“Do you know if you’re a side as well? Perhaps a subfunction of Anxiety?” Logan asked. 

Virgil shrugged. 

“Do you know Anxiety?”

Virgil didn’t think that Logan would believe him if he said no, so he nodded, trusting his face to make a sufficiently pained expression that Logan wouldn’t think that he was working with, well, himself. 

“Did he send you?” It must not have worked. 

Virgil shook his head. 

“Then why are you here?”

Virgil shrugged, trying to display his own confusion. 

Logan frowned. “It appears not to know much about its place in the mindscape. Perhaps it is new? Can you remember what happened yesterday?”

Virgil decided that, since he had no idea how he had come to be in Logan’s room, it was very possible that he was missing a day or more of memory. He shook his head. 

“My current theory is that it is a new function or subfunction, related to Anxiety in some way, and perhaps also to me, seeing as it appeared in my room. Do you know your purpose?”

Virgil shook his head. 

With that line of thought ended, Logan jumped to another immediately. “How tall are you?”

Virgil turned and ran, but Logan still didn’t even need to lean forward to grab him. 

“It’s corporeal. I can touch it without it disappearing.”

Logan held him in a fist, and Virgil struggled, squirming against his fingers. 

“It seems that, similar to Anxiety and myself, it is not fond of being touched.”

Logan picked up a ruler. “Hold still.” He set Virgil down, and placed the ruler against his back. “It is 5 ⅞ths inches tall.” 

He picked Virgil up again, setting him on a small scale. 

“It weighs almost exactly one ounce. Less than I would have expected.”

He set Virgil on top of a paper and pushed him to lay down. “Don’t move.”

Virgil didn’t want to find out what would happen if he disobeyed, so he didn’t move. 

“I am now tracing its outline.”

Virgil flinched away from the pencil, but Logan just laid a finger on whatever limb he was tracing, and was easily able to hold Virgil immobile. 

“Logan! Breakfast is ready!” Came Patton’s voice from downstairs. 

“I will come shortly!” Logan yelled back, and Virgil covered his ears. 

“It seems to be sensitive to loud sounds,” Logan remarked. “I will continue this study at a later point.”

Logan turned off his phone and let go of Virgil. Virgil stood up, gripping his middle, in which a pool of anxiety was starting to become painful. Logan put the cup over him again. 

“I will return.”

Virgil collapsed as soon as the door was closed. His whole body shook, and if he didn’t know that Logan would be coming back he would have allowed himself to cry. He still had no idea why he was here, or why he was tiny, or what to do to get home. 

  * •^*^••

The pain in his stomach woke him. Virgil grimaced. It felt like the pain from anxiety, but he couldn’t remember what he had dreamed about that would make him so anxious. He needed water. He sat up and opened his eyes. 

Even in the dark, something was not right. He could hear breathing. Long, slow, loud breathing. And he wasn’t in his bed. 

He stood up carefully on the unstable surface. It was like he was on a… he caught sight of the massive head. Virgil stumbled backwards in shock, tripping and falling. He let out a short yelp as he fell off the pillow and onto the bed. 

Roman’s face scrunched up, and then he opened his eyes. He let out a surprised yell. 

Virgil clamped his hands over his ears and curled into himself. 

The light turned on. 

“What-? What are you doing here you— you villain!? And why are you tiny? And why are you sneaking up on me when I’m asleep?”

Virgil knew Roman hated him. Maybe if he just stayed curled up, he’d realize that he wasn’t a threat, and wouldn’t hurt him. Or maybe he’d realize he wasn’t a threat and hurt him worse. 

A massive hand grabbed him, pinching his sides between a finger and thumb. Virgil could see as the bed dropped away, getting farther and farther as he was lifted higher. He stiffened, not daring to move lest he be dropped. 

“I said, why are you here?” Roman repeated, turning Virgil so that he faced him. His face was dark and angry. 

“I don’t kn-know,” Virgil stuttered. 

Roman frowned. “I don’t believe you.”

Virgil had been scared many times, but this might have to be the most scared he could ever remember being. 

“I’m not lying! Please!” He didn’t even know what he was asking for. To be believed? To not be hurt? To be put down? All of the above?

But the fingers on his sides squeezed tighter, and now it  _ hurt _ . Virgil squirmed, but it didn’t do anything to lessen the grip. 

“Why are you in my room?” Roman demanded. 

“I don’t know!” Tears started running down his face. If he at least knew what was going on he could do something, anything. But he couldn’t even answer the simple questions. 

Roman blinked, and his expression flickered for a half second, before returning to suspicion and anger. 

“You’re trying to trick me.”

“No!” The fingers tightened again, and Virgil sobbed, partly fear, and partly from pain. “You’re hurting me.” He knew he sounded weak. Broken even. But right now he’d do anything to get out of this nightmare. 

Roman set him down on his other hand, holding it cupped slightly, so that Virgil was unrestrained. Virgil gripped his sides with his hands, feeling pain pulse through them. 

“Did one of the dark sides do something to you?” Roman asked, and most of the anger had drained out of his voice. 

“I don’t know. I don’t know why I’m here, a-and I don’t know why I’m tiny, and I just want to go home!” 

Roman actually looked concerned for a moment, before his face hardened yet again. 

“I see what this is. It’s a trap, and you’re the bait. If I take you to Patton, or to Thomas, something bad is going to happen, isn’t it?!”

Virgil shrank further back when Roman raised his voice. 

“You're not the actual Anxiety, are you? That’s why you don’t know why you’re here.”

Virgil shook. He didn’t know. He could be. How would he know? 

Roman’s other hand started coming closer. 

Virgil ducked his head and dropped to his knees, hoping that with all the prince things Roman was into that this would get through to him. “Don’t hurt me. Please.”

Roman stopped. “I’m not gonna hurt you. You aren’t the one that did anything wrong. But I’m not going to let Anxiety win this, either.”

Roman looked around, and grabbed a basket filled with crumpled papers. He dumped out the papers on his bed and set Virgil in the basket. He snapped, and there was a lid to the basket, preventing Virgil from climbing out. 

“You stay in there. I’m going to find Anxiety.”

Virgil shook. What if he was the real Anxiety? What if Roman found that out? Would he hurt him then? What if he really was the bait in a trap? If it worked, whatever it was, would Roman think he knew about it? Either way, he’d be the one sitting here, at least partially at fault, and unable to stop Roman from… from anything, really. 

  * •^*^••

Virgil gasped. Three dreams pressing themselves upon his mind. He looked around in a panic. It was his own room. He was normally sized. He was alone. 

Tears began running down his face. 

“Deceit was right,” he whispered, his voice hoarse, as if he had been screaming. “I should  _ never  _ try to join them.”

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone really really wants a happy ending, I can try to write a sequel chapter at some point. 
> 
> Let me know! Comment, and subscribe to me if you like what I write!


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